Man wrongly Tasered by police gets £30k payout

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Man wrongly Tasered by police gets £30k payout3 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleCaroline LowbridgeEast MidlandsBBCDimitri Moses sustained numerous injuries after being Tasered, including a fractured spineA man who was seriously injured when he was wrongfully Tasered by police while celebrating his birthday has been given £30,000 in damages. Dimitri Moses was Tasered while climbing over a gate in Nottingham on 10 July 2021 after running away from officers he thought were going to beat him up. It caused him to fall, lose consciousness and fracture his spine.

The use of the Taser was against official policing guidance, which states the devices should only be used "as a proportionate response to an identified threat". Nottinghamshire Police, which claimed an officer had been trying to detain Moses over a public order offence, said it hoped the settlement "will offer comfort to the complainant". Moses believes race was a factor in what happened to him.

The Details

Home Office statistics for 2021-22 showed black people were approximately five times more likely than white people to have Tasers used against them. Dimitri MosesMoses had been celebrating his birthday with two friendsMoses said he was at a bar with two friends, celebrating his 34th birthday, when they were asked to leave because one of them was deemed to have been breaching social distancing rules by dancing away from their table. Under Covid regulations at the time, bars were only allowed to open on the condition that customers ordered and consumed their drinks while sitting down.

According to Moses's legal claim, one of the security staff told his friend "I'll put a bullet in your head" as they were leaving, so the friend began speaking to three police officers who were outside. The situation escalated and one of the officers - named in legal documents as PC Butler - pushed Moses across the street towards a shop window, which was captured on CCTV. "He told me he was giving me to the count of 10 to leave the area, and he put his hand on my throat and pushed me back on the wall across the street," said Moses.

His solicitor Iain Gould, who specialises in police misconduct cases, said Moses started counting to 10 which "provoked" Butler, who then "lunged towards" him - something Nottinghamshire Police has denied. All three officers then surrounded Moses, according to the legal claim, and two of them grabbed him by his arms. Moses was Tasered while climbing over a metal gate in the Sneinton Market area of NottinghamMoses, who lives in London, said he thought the officers were going to beat him up so, feeling scared, he decided to run away.

The officers chased after him and he headed towards Sneinton Market, where he started climbing over a metal gate. Moses was then Tasered by an officer - named as PC McClintock in the documents - while he was approximately 6ft (1. 8m) in the air, causing him to fall to the ground.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.